This invention relates to an identification document. More specifically, this invention relates to an over-the-counter identification document which is less susceptible to cracking than previous identification documents of this type, and which can be made to closely resemble a central issue identification document.
Many types of identification cards and documents, such as driving licenses, national or government identification cards, bank cards, credit cards, controlled access cards and smart cards, carry thereon certain items of information which relate to the identity of the bearer. The most important items of information are name, address, birth date, signature and photographic image; the cards or documents may in addition carry other variant data (i.e., data specific to a particular card or document, for example an employee number) and invariant data (i.e., data common to a large number of cards, for example the name of an employer). All of the cards described above will hereinafter be generically referred to as "identification documents".
Commercial systems for issuing identification documents are of two main types, namely "on-the-spot" or "over-the-counter" (OTC) issue, and "central" issue; as the name implies, the former are issued immediately to a bearer who is present at a document-issuing station, whereas with the latter type, a bearer reports to a document station where data is collected, the data are forwarded to a central location where the card is produced, and the card is forwarded to the bearer, often by mail.
Centrally issued digital identification documents generally comprise an opaque laser or ink jet printed core material, typically either paper or plastic, sandwiched between two layers of clear plastic laminate, typically polyester, to protect the aforementioned items of information from wear, exposure to the elements and tampering. The materials used in such centrally issued digital identification documents can offer the ultimate in durability. In addition, centrally issued digital identification documents generally offer a higher level of security than digital OTC identification documents because they offer the ability to pre-print the laser or ink jet printed core of the central issue document with "micro-printing", ultra-violet security features, security indicia and other features currently unique to centrally issued identification documents.
Digital OTC identification documents of the types mentioned above are generally comprised of highly plasticized poly(vinyl chloride) or have a composite structure with polyester laminated to highly plasticized 0.5-2.0 mil (13-51 .mu.m) poly(vinyl chloride) film, which provides a suitable receiving layer for heat transferable dyes which form a photographic image, together with any variant or invariant data required for the identification of the bearer. These data are subsequently protected to varying degrees by clear, thin (0.125-0.250 mil, 3-6 .mu.m) overlay patches applied at the printhead, holographic hot stamp foils (0.125-0.250 mil 3-6 .mu.m), or a clear polyester laminate (0.5-10 mil, 13-254 .mu.m) supporting common security features; these last two types of protective foil or laminate are applied at a laminating station separate from the printhead. The choice of laminate dictates the degree of durability and security imparted to the system in protecting the image and other data. Although such OTC documents are in wide use throughout the world, they suffer from several disadvantages. Both the highly plasticized poly(vinyl chloride) type and the polyester/poly(vinyl chloride) composite type become embrittled over time because of migration of the plasticizers, thus reducing the resistance of the document to cracking; such cracking renders the card unusable and vulnerable to tampering. The data described above which are crucial to the identification of the bearer are often covertly repeated on the document in encrypted form for data verification in a magnetic stripe, bar code, radio frequency module or integrated circuit chip. The inability to retrieve such data due to cracking renders the document invalid. In addition, many of the polyester/poly(vinyl chloride) composite documents have exhibited extreme sensitivity to combinations of heat and humidity, as evidenced by delamination and curling of the document structure.
The present invention provides an identification document which can be issued over the counter, which can be made to mimic the appearance of a central issue card, and which reduces or eliminates the aforementioned problems encountered with prior art OTC documents.